Dahcotah eBook

It would be impossible to give any idea of the number
of the gods of the Dahcotahs. All nature is animated
with them; every mountain, every tree, is worshipped,
as among the Greeks of old, and again, like the Egyptians,
the commonest animals are the objects of their adoration.

May the time soon come when they will acknowledge
but one God, the Creator of the Earth and Heaven,
the Sovereign of the universe!

STORMS IN LIFE AND NATURE;

OR,

UNKTAHE AND THE THUNDER BIRD

“Ever,” says Checkered Cloud, “will
Unktahe, the god of the waters, and Wahkeon, (Thunder,)
do battle against each other. Sometimes the thunder
birds are conquerors—­often the god of the
waters chases his enemies back to the distant clouds.”

Many times, too, will the daughters of the nation
go into the pathless prairies to weep; it is their
custom; and while there is sickness, and want, and
death, so long will they leave the haunts of men to
weep where none but the Great Spirit may witness their
tears. It is only, they believe, in the City
of spirits, that the sorrows of Dahcotah women will
cease—­there, will their tears be dried forever.

Many winters have passed away since Harpstenah brought
the dead body of her husband to his native village
to be buried; my authority is the “medicine
woman,” whose lodge, for many years, was to be
seen on the banks of Lake Calhoun.

This village is now deserted. The remains of
a few houses are to be seen, and the broken ground
in which were planted the poles of their teepees.
Silence reigns where the merry laugh of the villagers
often met in chorus. The scene of the feast and
dance is now covered with long grass, but “desolation
saddens all its green.”

CHAPTER I.

Dark and heavy clouds hung over the village of “Sleepy
Eyes,” one of the chiefs of the Sioux.
The thunder birds flapped their wings angrily as they
flew along, and where they hovered over the “Father
of many waters,” the waves rose up, and heaved
to and fro. Unktahe was eager to fight against
his ancient enemies; for as the storm spirits shrieked
wildly, the waters tossed above each other; the large
forest trees were uptorn from their roots, and fell
over into the turbid waters, where they lay powerless
amid the scene of strife; and while the vivid lightning
pierced the darkness, peal after peal was echoed by
the neighboring hills.

One human figure was seen outside the many teepees
that rose side by side in the village. Sleepy
Eyes alone dared to stand and gaze upon the tempest
which was triumphing over all the powers of nature.
As the lightning fell upon the tall form of the chief,
he turned his keen glance from the swift-flying clouds
to the waters, where dwelt the god whose anger he
had ever been taught to fear. He longed, though
trembling, to see the countenance of the being whose
appearance is the sure warning of calamity. His
superstitious fears told him to turn, lest the deity
should rise before him; while his native courage, and
love of the marvellous, chained him to the spot.